"Easy listening" is how Spanish producer John Talabot describes his universally praised debut album ƒIN. A smooth mix of house, disco and sun-kissed pop, it brought a musician previously struggling to be heard in his native country to the ears of people across the world, including the xx, who invited him to join them on tour. Having spent much of last year on the road supporting the black-clad trio, Talabot is now getting set for a big festival season.

The Guardian: Were you surprised there was such an enthusiastic response to ƒIN?

John Talabot: "Yes, I was really surprised. I never imagined that it could be liked by so many people. When I was doing it, I was thinking it was nothing really commercial. Maybe it has one track – Destiny – that has some kind of pop hook. I was just making an album that I would like to enjoy at home."

How has it helped to develop you musically?

"When I finished the album I felt that I gave so much to it that I needed a little bit of time to restart. For me, restarting meant making music with other people. When I felt I was a bit burned out, I needed to get back my passion for doing music, and I decided to start doing music with other people. It's a way to renew your processes and your ideas; a way to open your mind. I've been working with Pional, who I made some tracks with on the album, and other musicians, like Axel Boman and Mano Le Tough, too."

Are you continuing to work in a similar style? Or do you feel that your sound is stretching?

"I'm trying to do music for 12-inches again. I'm trying to refuel my brain to do new music, to feel I want to set up my studio in Barcelona again and do another album. But to do that you need to feel it. If you don't need to do an album, or if you don't have anything to say, I'm not sure it would be a good album."

Since you mention Barcelona, what's your take on the current situation in Spain?

"Our country is really broke. Spain has 26% unemployment, and most of them are young people. I won't say it's a good moment for Spain but I think it's an interesting moment, because we need some things to change. I think that creativity is one of the ways to take out that anger from the situation. When you don't have too much money, you need to use what you have, and from that limitation something has to come. People are realising that nobody will do anything for them, so they have to do it the best way they can. I am happy for that because, even in this bad situation, people still have projects; they're making low-budget movies, starting labels and making music."

Do you feel your music reacts in any way to the situation?

"No, not in any way. I'm not that kind of musician. I don't know anything about politics or money, so the best way I can act is by doing what I do: just trying to make music and promote artists [with his record label, Hivern Discs] and building some kind of industry that is still not big here in Spain. That's my way of working. I think people have to work in the things they know, because that's the problem we've been having in Spain: a lot of politicians don't know what they're doing."John Talabot appears at Pleasure Principle, Newquay, 26-28 Apr